Chevron Corporation

Good morning. My name is Katie and I will be your conference facilitator today. Welcome to Chevron's fourth quarter 2022 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session and instructions will be given at that time. If anyone should require assistance during the conference call, please press star and the number zero on your touchtone telephone. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. I will now turn the conference over to the General Manager of Investor Relations of Chevron Corporation, Mr. Roderick Green. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Katie. Welcome to Chevron's fourth quarter 2022 earnings conference call and webcast. I'm Roderick Green, General Manager of Investor Relations. Our Chairman and CEO, Mike Wirth, and CFO, Pierre Brever, are on the call with me. Also listening in today is Jake Spearing, the incoming General Manager of Investor Relations who will assume this position effective March 1. Jake and I will be transitioning together over the next couple of months. It's been my sincere pleasure working with each of you over the last two years. Thank you for your questions, feedback, and investment in Chevron. We will refer to the slides and prepare remarks that are available on Chevron's website. Before we begin, please be reminded that this presentation contains estimates, projections, and other forward-looking statements. Please review the cautionary statement on slide two. Now, I will turn it over to Mike.

Thank you, Roderick, and thanks everyone for joining us today. Chevron had an outstanding year in 2022, delivering record financial performance, producing more traditional energy and advancing lower carbon businesses. Pre-cash flow set a record, beating our previous high in 2021 by more than $15 billion, enabling a strong dividend increase and the buyback of almost 4% of our shares. U.S. production was also our highest ever, led by double-digit growth in the Permian. Growth matters when it's profitable. Return on capital employed over 20% shows that our focus on capital efficiency is delivering results. And we took important steps in building new energy businesses. We successfully integrated REG's people and assets into Chevron, combining the best of both companies' technical and commercial capabilities. and we acquired rights to pour space for potential carbon capture and storage projects in Texas and Australia. We had many other highlights last year, to name just a few. At TCO, project construction is largely complete, and we're starting up the fuel gas system. Focus is on commissioning and startup of the wellhead pressure management project by the end of this year to begin transition of the field from high to low pressure. We announced a significant new gas discovery offshore Egypt, which could build on our growing natural gas position in the Eastern Med. And our affiliate, CP Chem, reached FID for two world-scale ethylene and derivatives projects in Texas and Qatar. 2022 was a dynamic year, with unique macroeconomic and geopolitical forces disrupting economies and industries around the globe. These events remind us of the importance of affordable and reliable energy with a lower carbon intensity over time. We don't know what's ahead in 2023. I do know that Chevron's approach will be clear and consistent, focused on capital, cost, and operational discipline, with the objective to safely deliver higher returns and lower carbon. With that, I'll turn it over to Pierre to discuss our financials.